


The One Where Arthur And Merlin Play an RPG

by n00blici0us



Series: The Gym AU [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-27
Updated: 2011-09-27
Packaged: 2017-10-24 02:10:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/257727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n00blici0us/pseuds/n00blici0us
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a ficlet wherein Merlin teaches Arthur how to play an rpg</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where Arthur And Merlin Play an RPG

“What are you doing?” Arthur asked, coming around the desk to rest a hip against the desk. He was tired of looking at financial reports and wanted a distraction. Merlin was currently busy typing on his computer, a black screen with various colored text covering most of the laptop.

“It’s a game I play,” Merlin answered a bit distractedly. Then, “Interested in giving it a try?”

“Er,” Arthur said. Computers were mainly for typing up reports and reading pages and pages of reports and memos and meeting notes, not for fun, except for the occasional lolcats, which he would deny if anyone asked. Plus, after trying that gluten-free meal at Zebra he felt like he needed to be a little circumspect before just agreeing to anything Merlin asked. Six months of dating made Arthur wise to the ways of his significant other. “What kind of game?”

“It’s an RPG. A text-based RPG.”

“A… rocket propelled grenade?” Arthur felt pretty proud that he actually knew that acronym and couldn’t for the life of him figure out what Merlin meant.

Merlin laughed, a warm, open laugh that filled Arthur with a sort of happiness that he could make Merlin laugh like that. “God Arthur, sometimes I forget how computer illiterate you are,” he said fondly. “It’s a role-playing game.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows. He and Merlin had indulged in a bit of roleplaying once—he was the knight rescuing the gentleman from a marauding dragon and Merlin was the gentleman showing his full appreciation after being rescued—and he wasn’t sure he wanted Merlin doing that with strangers on the internet.

Merlin laughed again. “Not that kind of role-playing. It’s like World of Warcraft, but with text?”

Now that Arthur could understand. “That’s cool. A few of the guys on the football team were into that game. How do I start?”

“Come on,” Merlin beckoned him over to the couch, taking his laptop with him. They settled themselves besides each other, elbows knocking comfortably together. Merlin pulled up the website. “Here,” he gestured to Arthur. “Pick a name.”

“How about, Arthur?”

“It’s a fantasy RPG. Are you sure you want it to be Arthur?”

“Like King Arthur isn’t fantasy enough?”

Merlin rolled his eyes. “You’re such a narcissist. Type it in, set up a password and it’ll just deposit you in Chancy Square.”

“Wait,” Arthur said, hands poised uncertainly over the keyboard. “I just… type what I want to do? Where’s my avatar?”

Merlin laughed. “It’s text-based, no pictures.” He leaned over, shoulder pressing against Arthur’s. “Kill the goblin.”

“Um, okay.” Arthur looked warily at the screen again and typed ‘kill goblin’ and pushed enter. “I did it!” he pointed to the text on the screen. “My massive blow pounds the goblin! I got 250 exp. What’s that? Is that good?”

“Yep, you need those points to level up.”

Arthur snuck a peek at Merlin’s laptop. “Yours doesn’t look anything like mine,” he said.

“Oh, I’ve customized mine. I didn’t want to throw everything at you all at once, so you’re just using the default client. If you decide you like the game, we can work on setting your own personal settings.”

It was starting to sound like a lot of work to Arthur. “How about we go role-play by ourselves in the bedroom instead?”

Merlin moved their laptops to the coffee table and pulled Arthur down for a kiss. “Who says we need to go to the bedroom?”


End file.
